Aymi’s Adventures

So I arrived in Heathrow, quite looking forward to getting home and suprising everyone.  I went to buy a new sim card for my phone and I remembered how bad the service was in the UK, after half an hour or so I finally got my new mobile number working.  That’s probably the longest i’ve waited for any service since leaving the UK – not to mention the most expensive!  I spent all my last foreign currency in Dubai airport buying cigarettes to sell to make some money when I got home, so I had no money to buy food or drink all day – well it certainly makes you appreciate the plane meals, I was absolutely ravenous!!

After texting a few people I realised I had no chance of getting a lift home on a Sat night without spoiling the suprise so forked out for a taxi.  Luckily Mum and Dad were in and the front door was open so I put my bags down and walked into the lounge – about 5 minutes later Mum realised it was me!!!  What a great night to get home on – I got to watch the X-factor final and then have a fab nights sleep in a double bed – wowow how exciting!!!

Went to see my Sister and her Kids on Sunday which was ace, I was so glad Jodie & James remembered me and spent all afternoon playing with them after promising to come back the next day and take them both swimming.  I was so impressed when we did go swimming, they had both improved so much and were so good, I couldnt believe it.  Spoke to my Bro and his son Harvey on the phone, but will have to wait til after Christmas before I see them again with my new Godson Kai.

Then after hiding away for 2 nights Monday night finally came around – the Poachers Christmas party at TGI Fridays.  I got to the pub first and sat hidden round the corner with Helen and got to see everyone’s reactions when they realised I was there.  Martha was the best, she took nearly as long as Mum to realise!!  I wish I culd have taken pictures of everyones faces!

At least now everyone knows I am back, feels kinda like i’ve never been away really, especially now the suprising everyone is over, nothing else to look forward to – Oh well, best get job searching now to earn some cash!

So much for my week in the sun, topping up my tan ready for Christmas – there has only been one day of sunshine with rain the rest of the time – not bad for a place where it isn’t supposed to rain!!!

Despite the weather I still had agood time, it was nice to have a friendly face waiting for me at the airport, a place to stay and someone to go out with at night – so thanks for that Nick.  I have to say it was a lot more upmarket than I am acustomed to!

Jumeirah is probably the most famous area of Dubai where the Burj Al Arab and Jumeirah Beach hotel’s stand out from the other many buildings but for me it was my least favourite part and reminded me more of a building site than anything else, there is certainly no culture to be found there.  If all your after is a nice hotel, a beach and a pool, then it will be okay for you, but it is quite a distance from the other areas of Dubai and the main means of transport is taxi, which given the traffic jams (rush hour seems to last forever because of the different working hours) in Dubai is far from ideal – especially if your in a hurry.

Bur Dubai and Deira are the other main areas and are seperated only be the creek.  Deira to the North of the creek is more business orientated and home to the gold souk and central plaza.  Bur Dubai (where I stayed) is the oldest part of Dubai and where it all originally began, it is also your best chance at getting some culture – especially in the museum here.

We went to the food hall in the Burjaman center (one of many shopping malls) every night for dinner – apart from the two nights I cooked (unsuccessfully I might add) and to satisfy Nicks nightly coffee craving, then we normally went on to a pub to satisfy my nightly alcohol cravings!  On the first night we went to the Irish Villiage for some Killkenny’s, then another night to rockbottom’s for a bullfrog or 2 and on the last night we got all dressed up and went up the Emirates Towers for a drink there – very upmarket for me!

The highlight of Dubai was the last day when we did a dune safari which basically involved driving (or should I say sliding) 4 x 4’s through the sand-dunes for a while before stopping, having a camel ride, getting henna tattoo’s, watching a belly dancer, having a fab buffet dinner and then smoking an apple flavour sheesha pipe – not a real cultural experience but as close as I managed to get while in Dubai & it was good fun.

Considering I wanted to spend a month at least here and maybe stay longer and get some volunteer work, I didnt do very well. However I did manage to go from Hanoi in the North to Ho Chi Minh in ... [Continue reading this entry]

Arriving in Luang Prabang was quite a shock to the system, it was so quiet and there were no tuk tuk drivers waiting at the airport, hassling us to take us into town. I never thought I would say this, ... [Continue reading this entry]

Gillian Cat and I arrived in Phnomn Penh very tired and weary. Its amazing how much a cold can affect you in this heat. Although to be fair the last 2 nights I have only had 4 hours sleep in ... [Continue reading this entry]

So considering I was only going to spend 1 week in Thailand, that quickly doubled, I love the way of life here.  After revisiting Khao San Road and refamiliarising myself with all the sights and smells, I was hooked once ... [Continue reading this entry]

Arriving into Melbourne at 6am in the morning after no sleep on the overnight bus wearing thongs (flip flops) was not a good idea.  Luckily walking around with my increasingly heavy backpack kept me slightly warmer whilst I found the ... [Continue reading this entry]

My bed on the bus! 

So after the 2200km from Cairns to Alice Springs in 3 days, the next installment from Alice to Adeleide of 3200km in 6 days seemed like a doddle! There was ... [Continue reading this entry]

Road's to nowhere - Ozzy outback 

  

It was pretty silly to get so drunk on my last night in Cairns and not go to ... [Continue reading this entry]